Dale Akiki Case
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describes crimes
Ex-School Volunteer Acquitted of Child Abuse Charges Verdict: After
deliberating for just seven hours, jury finds Dale Akiki not guilty on
all 35 counts. Trial was longest in San Diego’s history. Los Angeles
Times - Los Angeles, Calif. - Michael Granberry - Nov 20, 1993
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/60254778.html?dids=60254778:60254778&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+20%2C+1993&author=MICHAEL+GRANBERRY&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=29&desc=Ex-School+Volunteer+Acquitted+of+Child+Abuse+Charges+Verdict%3A+After+deliberating+for+just+seven+hours%2C+jury+finds+Dale+Akiki+not+guilty+on+all+35+counts.+Trial+was+longest+in+San+Diego%27s+history
A Superior Court jury concluded a 7 1/2-month trial Friday by
acquitting a former nursery school volunteer of 35 counts of child
abuse and kidnaping that had kept him jailed without bail for 2 1/2
years….
Nearly 170 witnesses testified during Akiki’s trial-the longest in San
Diego history-which ended after only seven hours of jury
deliberation….
Several on the (jury) panel sided with Akiki’s attorneys, public
defenders Kathleen Coyne and Susan Clemens, who tried to show that
Akiki’s alleged victims-nine boys and girls between the ages of 3 and
5-had been systematically brainwashed by parents and therapists.
But Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Avery, the lead prosecutor, disputed such
claims.
“The whole idea of contamination and suggestibility just does not
account for the major behavior changes that occurred (in the children)
while they were in Dale Akiki’s (nursery school) class,” she said,
referring to such incidents as bed-wetting and nightmares.
Witnesses accused Akiki of sexually molesting and terrorizing children
at Faith Chapel charismatic church in Spring Valley by hanging them
upside-down from a chandelier, dunking them in toilets and making them
drink the blood of animals in ritualistic ceremonies.
Molestation Hearing Continues Next Week - Los Angeles Times - February
8, 1992 - San Diego County Edition
….Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Avery has called some of the parents to
testify about behavioral changes they observed in the children.
“There were drastic changes observed,” Avery said. Defense
attorney Kate Coyne, however, maintains that Akiki has been falsely
accused by parents who did not like his physical appearance.
Judge Rejects Bail for Suspect In Molestations at Preschool - Los
Angeles Times - May 25, 1991 Amy Wallace; Times Staff Writer
….But Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Avery, the prosecutor, said that, in
addition to the grand jury testimony of seven children who attended
the Faith Chapel in Casa de Oro, her case will rely on behavioral
symptoms observed by parents months before any allegations of abuse
were raised.
One mother said her daughter was so terrified of having her head near
water that it was impossible to wash her hair, Avery said. Grand jury
testimony later revealed that at least one child had had her head
dunked in a toilet, she said.
Testimony was also heard that a child became hysterical when he was
taken to a hospital to get stitches, apparently because he had a
flashback of “the defendant holding him down and hurting him,” Avery
said. The indictment filed against Akiki said he inflicted injuries on
children with a needle.
Avery maintained that some of the children remain so traumatized by
Akiki’s treatment that they have attempted suicide–one by running in
front of a car, another with a knife.
Other Suspects Added to Child Sex Abuse Probe - Los Angeles Times -
May 15, 1991 - Amy Wallace; Times Staff Writer
As many as three former child care workers at Faith Chapel in Spring
Valley are suspected of molesting and abusing preschoolers over a 15-
month period ending in August, 1989, a San Diego County prosecutor
said Tuesday.
Speaking after the arraignment of Dale Anthony Akiki, a former church
volunteer who was indicted last week on 50 felony counts of child
molestation and related charges, Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Avery said
two other former child care workers are being investigated….
According to the 13-page indictment, which a grand jury returned after
hearing live televised testimony from seven of the children, Akiki
abused them sexually and physically, at times using a bottle top, a
toy, a glass, a stick and a needle.
Church Volunteer Indicted in Molestations - Los Angeles Times - May
14, 1991 - Amy Wallace; Alan Abrahamson; Times Staff Writers
….Soon, Avery said, a couple of parents noticed that their children
were exhibiting similar “unusual” and “regressive” behavior. The
children had not yet said they were abused, Avery said, but the
parents observed a pattern.
“In thinking it over, they realized the one thing the children had in
common was they went to the same church,” she said.
The church asked a licensed social worker to assess whether there was
reasonable suspicion of abuse and, after talking to a few families, he
reported the case to the authorities.
Avery began investigating in February, 1990. Since then, she said, the
district attorney’s office has kept Akiki under periodic surveillance,
“to make sure he was not working with children during the week or
involved with child care in any way.”
Avery said her case is strengthened by the fact that it relies on the
children’s behavior as well as their testimony. “It will focus on
behavior that was observed prior to the initial disclosure” of the
alleged abuse, she said. “So there cannot be a contamination issue
regarding behavior that occurred prior to anyone ever mentioning this
to the children.”
Unlike other child molestation cases that rely largely on the
testimony of the victims, the Akiki case is “one which can be cleanly
and coherently presented to a jury for their determination,” said
Steve Casey, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.